Akari, also known by its pre-launch name Astro-F, is a Japanese (JAXA/ISAS) astrophysics mission. The rocket also released a 3.6 kg picosatellite, named Cute 1.7 to train students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The 955 kg satellite carries a Ritchey-Chretien, F/6.1 infrared telescope with aperture 67 cm and focal length 420 cm. It carries two focal plane instruments kept at a temperature of 6 K (-450?F) by 170 liter of liquid helium. Akari is expected to provide a significant advance over the results from the earlier NASA/ESA mission, IRAS (1983-004A).